Newswise — SEATTLE (EMBARGOED UNTIL 10 A.M. EDT ON JULY 28, 2002) — Scientists, doctors and other health professionals from the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) will present research findings and other HIV-related news at AIDS 2022, the International AIDS Conference taking place virtually and in person in Montreal, Canada, July 29 to Aug. 2.
HVTN, based at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle with an international network of AIDS and HIV experts, will be involved in more than a dozen oral, poster and other presentations. Abstracts and information are embargoed until 10 a.m. EDT on Thursday, July 28. To arrange an interview, please contact Sandy Van, [email protected].
Here are summaries of several representative sessions.
Dr. Jessica Andriesen, a senior staff scientist in vaccine and infectious disease who will make this presentation, said the Ubuntu study (CoVPN 3008) provides the opportunity to further understand the COVID-19 pandemic in people living with HIV. People living with HIV make up approximately 80% of the about 11,300 individuals enrolled as of July 1, 2022. The planned analyses include the effectiveness of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines against symptomatic and severe COVID-19 illness caused by variants of concern, and the immune response to mRNA vaccination in people living with HIV. As Ubuntu began enrollment, a high percentage of participants who were joining the study were found to be living with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections at their first vaccination visits. Participants living with HIV who had low CD4 counts were more likely to also be living with SARS-CoV-2 infections, whether or not they already had antibodies from an infection in the past. “These findings highlight the urgent need to better characterize how being immunocompromised due to HIV impacts a person’s chances of becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2, and their ability to clear the infection and fully recover,” Andriesen said.
Session type: Oral presentation. Late Breaker Track C.
Date, time, location: Tuesday, Aug. 2, 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., Room 517d/Channel 2.
“We found in the antibody-mediated prevention (AMP) studies that a broadly neutralizing antibody could prevent HIV infection, but only if the infecting strain was very susceptible to the antibody,” said first author and presenter Dr. Stephen R. Walsh, an infectious diseases specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “To improve on this, we are testing newer antibodies that cover more strains of HIV, and we are testing combinations of these antibodies to try to get broader coverage of global HIV diversity. One antibody we are testing is called VRC07-523LS, and it covers more strains of HIV than the AMP antibody. The VRC07-523LS antibody has a half-life in the human body of about 55 days which means we wouldn’t have to give it to people as often as the AMP antibody. When we combined VRC07-523LS with other anti-HIV antibodies, the half-life in the human body was about 52 days, which really isn’t any different. This is important because it shows that the level of VRC07-523LS in the body is unchanged if it’s given alone or in combination with other anti-HIV antibodies.”
Session type: E-poster.
Date, time, location: Sunday, July 31, beginning at 3:30 p.m., on the conference website and in the Palais des Congrès, second floor.
First author and presenter Dr. Zoe Moodie, a senior staff scientist in the vaccine and infectious disease division at Fred Hutch, said this study addresses the critical question of whether the immune responses that correlated with HIV in the RV144 Thai trial also apply to other vulnerable populations. “Although the related vaccine regimen studied in HVTN 702 in South Africa did not prevent participants from getting HIV, the trial gives us a unique opportunity to answer this important question and hints about why the vaccine regimen did not work,” she said. The study showed that among vaccinees with a certain type of high binding antibody response, vaccine-specific CD4+ T-cell responses were associated with 51%-60% lower vulnerability to HIV. On the other hand, among those with low binding antibody responses, CD4+ T-cell responses were associated with a 2.2- to 3.6-fold higher vulnerability to HIV. “Our findings are in line with the correlates results from RV144, raising the possibility that vaccination needs to induce high binding antibody responses, along with strong CD4+ T-cell responses, to achieve protection from HIV,” Moodie said.
First author and presenter Avi Kenny, a PhD student in biostatistics at the University of Washington, said this presentation is on the Imbokodo clinical trial (HVTN 705) that enrolled 2,600 women in sub-Saharan Africa and was designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a novel Ad26 vector-based HIV vaccine. “Although the vaccine did not show significant efficacy to prevent HIV-1 acquisition, a secondary analysis assessed whether any of a prespecified set of antibody and T-cell biomarkers were associated with risk of HIV acquisition or vaccine efficacy. While there were no statistically significant associations, the subgroup of vaccine recipients with highest levels of a specific biomarker measuring antibodies that bind to the surface of an HIV envelope protein had the lowest rate of HIV-1 acquisition,” Kenny said. “This hypothesis-generating finding provides a useful direction for future vaccine research, indicating a goal post to favor candidate vaccines that generate more frequent and higher levels of the specific biomarker.”
Session type: Oral presentation. Late Breaker Track A.
Date, time, location: Saturday, July 30, 11:47 a.m., Room 511/Channel 7.
Lessons learned about community engagement from the past 20 years of HVTN trials informed the success of similar efforts in support of COVID-19 vaccine research. Now that the COVID-19 vaccine studies are reaching their conclusions, what lessons can be applied back to HIV vaccine research as those studies resume? The presenters will share how the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN) built on prior community engagement successes in the HVTN, the success of these efforts in COVID-19 vaccine studies, including enrollment of BIPOC communities, engagement of faith-based organizations and Native American or Indigenous communities, the use of a participant screening registry, and the use of infographics and video for social media and marketing campaigns. As HIV vaccine studies begin to resume, the presenters will also share how these COVID-19 successes are being applied back to HIV research, addressing pre-pandemic challenges with slow study enrollment. This Global Village session will be presented and moderated by Gail Broder, associate director of HVTN’s Social Behavioral Science & Community Engagement Unit, and Dr. Stephaun Wallace, director of External Relations at HVTN. Additional participants and panelists will include HTVN community engagement project managers Rafael Gonzalez, U.S. and Puerto Rico; Kagisho Baepanye, eastern and sub-Saharan Africa; Luciana Kamel, Argentina and Brazil; and Patricia Segura, Mexico and Peru.
Session type: Global Village Session.
Date, time, location: Sunday, July 31, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., Global Village Channel/Room 2.
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Interfaith Preconference: Taking Action to Overcome HIV Stigma and Discrimination
Ahead of AIDS 2022, Dr. Ulysses W. Burley III, founder of UBtheCURE LLC, will co-facilitate a two-day event featuring workshops, networking opportunities and presentations by and for faith leaders targeting HIV-related stigma and discrimination. Among session topics are:
Recommendations of persons and communities affected, in dialogue with faith leaders.
Theological principles that guide faith groups to overcome stigma and discrimination.
Leveraging trust and access to sustain epidemic control and advance prevention.
Innovations to tackle HIV stigma and discrimination.
The impact of new testing tools and methodologies.
How optimal HIV pediatric treatment is paving the way to end stigma among children.
Long-acting injection to treat HIV.
PREP and PEP: essential tools to end stigma.
Monitoring and evaluation frameworks that can be adapted to faith interventions to address stigma and discrimination.
UBtheCURE is a Chicago-based consulting company at the intersection of faith, health, and human rights, with expertise in HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. Although Burley’s formal training is in immunology and cancer epidemiology, his primary work has been in HIV and AIDS education, awareness, advocacy, and capacity-building in the context of faith.
Session type: Preconference event.
Date, time, location: Wednesday, July 27, and Thursday, July 28, from 8 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. both days, Montreal’s La Plaza Centre-Ville-EVO.
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Documentary Film Screening: ‘My Faith, My Story: HIV in the U.S. South’
Dr. Ulysses W. Burley, also will host a screening of the documentary “My Faith, My Story: HIV in the U.S. South” on behalf of the U.S. HIV/AIDS Faith Coalition and National Faith HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Burley is a co-founder of both the organization and the recognition event. He and Khadijah Abdullah, executive director of Reaching All HIV+ Muslims in America (RAHMA), co-produced the film, and W. Imara Canady, national director of Communications & Community Engagement for AIDS Healthcare Foundation, is featured. All three are HVTN faith ambassadors. The Global Village screening will begin at 3:25 p.m. on Sunday, July 31.
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HVTN experts will discuss a variety of other subjects at AIDS 2022
Among other subjects covered by HVTN professionals: recruitment strategies in a global preventive HIV vaccine study, broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibody studies, mRNA technology, strengthening industry engagement in vaccine research, ethical and community considerations in experimental medicine trials in Africa, and COVID-19’s impact on vaccine research and development. HVTN will also host an exhibition booth – HIV Vaccine Trials Network: Help End HIV – in the Global Village.
At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, home to three Nobel laureates, interdisciplinary teams of world-renowned scientists seek new and innovative ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases. Fred Hutch’s pioneering work in bone marrow transplantation led to the development of immunotherapy, which harnesses the power of the immune system to treat cancer. An independent, nonprofit research institute based in Seattle, Fred Hutch houses the nation’s first National Cancer Institute-funded cancer prevention research program, as well as the clinical coordinating center of the Women’s Health Initiative and the international headquarters of the NIAID-funded HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) and COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN).
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
